PLDT Cloud launched

Leading telecoms provider PLDT has beefed up its ICT portfolio with its own enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure following its nationwide rollout of data centers and the completion of its massive network modernization program.

“PLDT has already laid down the groundwork in infrastructure that has enabled us to provide an industry-grade, complete, resilient, and reliable service in the Cloud,” said PLDT EVP and Head of Enterprise and International and Carrier Business Eric R. Alberto.

PLDT Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services designed to address the growing IT needs of enterprise customers at lower cost.
“PLDT Cloud is housed in our extensive network of PLDT VITRO Data Centers around the country which has enterprise grade reliability and scalability. Enterprise businesses using PLDT Cloud can scale to any desired level that the businesses would require,” Alberto said. “And since we fully control and manage the cloud infrastructure, we have the ability to respond faster to customers. Once a customer is enrolled to PLDT Cloud, virtual machine creation can be done in a matter of minutes.”

The PLDT VITRO Data Centers are currently located in Pasig City in Metro Manila, Subic in Olongapo, and Cebu City in the Visayas. PLDT added two more data centers recently with the acquisition of IP Converge Data Services Inc. by its ICT unit ePLDT.

“PLDT has always invested in infrastructure that will promote a forward path in the PLDT Group’s thrust of empowering the country’s future capability in technology,” said PLDT and Smart President and CEO Napoleon L. Nazareno. “PLDT Cloud closely supports the company’s overall strategy of enabling technology for nation-building, and in future proofing such technology platforms for all our customers.

After offering an array of different cloud services since 2010, PLDT is now ready to offer solutions off its public cloud starting with Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), a virtualized computing solutionthat gives businesses the benefit of a full and highly scalable IT resource which they can directly provision, modify and monitor.

“This service allows the customera level of control on the amount of required computing capacity as well as the period it will be needed. In other words, companies will only pay for the capacity that they need and the service that they use at any given time. This is definitely more cost-effective than for companies to buy their own physical server stacks which aren’t fully utilized during non-peak periods,” PLDT ALPHA Enterprise Head Jovy Hernandez said.

Hernandez said PLDT Cloud IaaS would prove beneficial for businesses with increasing or unpredictable IT workloads over time that need IT infrastructure capable of responsively scaling up or down, such as the Business Process Outsourcing, Media and Broadcasting, Wholesale and Retail trade, and Banking and Finance, among others.

In a study released in 2011, the Philippines’ local cloud market will reach an estimated P3.4 billion by 2014 and a major portion is expected to come from large enterprises with mature IT capabilities on key areas such as business analytics, finance and accounting, enterprise resource planning, and communications.Outsourcing of non-core IT functions such as email and test/development environments are also expected to boost the Enterprise’s embrace on cloud.